Children of the Comarca

Today we went into the Kindergarden classroom and we taught the children the importance of hand washing and oral hygiene. We had several activities for them to demonstrate the importance of not spreading germs and to take care of their teeth! They were very excited to see us. We brought them each a bar of soap, toothpaste, and a toothbrush. The children are very well-behaved. They even sang us a song that they had been practicing that was half in Spanish and half in English. It was such a great experience and very fulfilling to know that we were helping the children of Alto Caballero. We were able to talk with one of the teachers there about the children. He said many of them do not really focus on school work because their parents are not very supportive. They rarely do homework because they are made to work on the farm with their father instead. This makes it difficult to teach them the importance that education has on their lives. Many children are also mal-nourished and are small for their age. Clean water seems to be a constant problem. They often collect their water in buckets from the rain. Some of them will boil it if they are able to clean it. Today was a wonderful experience. The children are very sweet, caring, and well behaved. I just wish there was more that we could have done for them!